Andrew Edgerton was born in Norwich, Connecticut on
March 24, 1768, the youngest son of John and Elizabeth (Prentice) Edgerton.He was baptized at the First Congregational
Church of Norwich on May 15, 1768.

Andrew was raised in Norwich. His father died
in 1778 and Andrew (along with his siblings) inherited a portion of his
father’s lands.Upon his maturity,
Andrew removed from Norwich and settled
briefly in Wallingford, Rutland County, Vermont,
where several cousins (children of his uncle Capt. Daniel Edgerton) then
resided.Andrew’s elder brother, John,
had previously gone to RutlandCounty (circa 1780) and was living at that time in
Clarendon, just to the north of Wallingford.In a deed dated in Wallingford on October
18, 1791, Andrew Edgerton “of Wallingford, County of Rutland, and State of
Vermont” sold a portion of his property in Norwich, to his brother-in-law,
Jabez Tracy (Norwich LR 29:231-2).The
deed was witnessed by his elder brother, John Edgerton.

By October 1797, Andrew had
left Vermont and settled in Palantine, Montgomery County, New
York.On
October 18, 1797, Andrew Edgerton “of Pallintine in the County
of Montgomery and State of New York but formerly of Norwich”
sold the remainder of his property in Norwich
to Daniel Huntington Junr. (Norwich
LR 33:15).The deed was signed in Norwich; and this is the last known reference to Andrew
in Connecticut.

The household of “Andrew
Edgarton” was recorded in the 1810 Federal Census
of Salisbury, MontgomeryCounty (now HerkimerCounty), New York (pg. 107), with the following
enumeration:

Although it has not yet been
directly proven that Andrew Edgerton of Yates County,
New York was the Andrew Edgerton, youngest
son of John and Elizabeth
(Prentice) Edgertonm, extensive research conducted by Richard W.
Edgerton, Mark
Armstrong and Brian
G. Edgerton has produced a large amount of circumstantial evidence
proving this connection fairly conclusively.Firstly, the age at death of Andrew Edgerton of Yates
County, New York (from his
tombstone) coincides correctly with the year in which Andrew, son of John,
was born in Norwich
(that is, 1768).Also, Andrew of Yates
County had daughters named Elizabeth and Hannah, presumably named after his
mother and only sister, respectively.Richard W. Edgerton (a descendant of Andrew
Edgerton) also reports that Andrew of Yates County was known to have had a
brother named Jedediah.There are
similar migrations patterns and times between Andrew and his elder brothers,
Stephen and Jedediah from Connecticut to New York State.And furthermore, the aforementioned 1810
Montgomery County Census tallies precisely with the known family of the
Andrew Edgerton who settled in Reading, Steuben County (now Schuyler County),
New York circa 1814.Finally, later
census records of Andrew’s elder children state variously that they were born
in either Herkimer or MontgomeryCounty – the younger ones being born in SteubenCounty.Despite the growing collection of
circumstantial evidence, no primary documentation of Andrew’s parentage has
been uncovered to date.

At any rate, it is known
that Andrew Edgerton arrived in Reading,
New York circa 1814 with a
family of six children.The youngest
daughter, Deborah, was born a few years after their arrival in Reading.Andrew was first listed as a head of
household in Reading, Steuben County, New York
in the year 1820.

The household of “Andrew
Edgeton” was recorded in the 1820 Federal Censusof Reading, Steuben County,
New York (pg. 266), as follows:

1 male “of 45 years and upwards”(Andrew);

1 male “of 16 and under 26”(son James);

1 male “between 16 and 18”(son James);

1 male “under 10 years of age”(son Andrew Jr.);

1 female “of 26 and under 45”(Catherine);

2 females “of 10 and under 16”(daughters Elizabeth and Harriet); and,

2 females “under 10 years of age”(daughters Hannah and Deborah).

By 1830, the family had
moved to nearby Rock Stream (StarkeyTownship) in Yates
County, New York.Andrew
was recorded there in the 1830 Federal Census.Andrew’s nephew, Stephen P. Edgerton (son
of his elder brother, Stephen Edgerton) was residing in the neighboring township of Milo at this time.

The household of Andrew
Edgerton was recorded in the 1830 Federal Censusof Starkey, Yates County,
New York (pg. 257), with the
following enumeration:

1 male “of 60 and under 70”(Andrew);

1 male “of 15 and under 20”(son Andrew Jr.);

1 female “of 50 and under 60”(wife Catherine);

2 females “of 20 and under 30”(daughters Elizabeth and Harriet);

1 female “of 15 and under 20”(daughter Hannah); and,

1 female “of 10 and under 15”(daughter Deborah).

History of Yates County, New
York (Stafford C. Cleveland, 1873) gives the
following biographical excerpt regarding Andrew Edgerton:

“Andrew Edgerton was born in 1768, in Hartford,
Conn., and his wife, Catharine Murray, who
was a sister of Mrs. Enos Allen was born in Vermont, in 1777.They moved into Reading in 1814, and settled close by Rock
Stream, where they bought fifty acres of land.He died there in 1832, and she in
1861.Their children were Polly,
James, Elizabeth, Harriet, Andrew, Hannah and Deborah.”

An intesting itemfrom
the Penn Yan Democrat (published on
Friday, January 16, 1925) describes the Edgerton family homestead, first
occupied by Andrew Edgerton in the year 1814 and subsequently passed to his
daughter, Harriet Edgerton, and then to his grandson, George Ingham Edgerton.

Andrew Edgerton died at Rock Stream, New
York on June 21, 1832, aged 64 years.He was buried at the RockStreamCemetery, where his
wife, Catherine, and many of his descendants were later interred.

Following Andrew’s death,
Catherine and her two unmarried daughters, Harriet and Hannah, went to live
with Catherine’s son-in-law, William Chambers (husband of her eldest
daughter, Polly).They were recorded
in William’s household in the 1850
Federal Censusof Starkey, Yates
County, New York
(pg. 152; dwelling #173; family #174; enum. August 20, 1850).A grandson, Gilbert Proper (son of
Catherine’s deceased daughter, Elizabeth) was also living with the family at
this time.The complete household was
enumerated as follows:

William H. Chambers

53

b. NY

farmer

Polly

48

b. NY

Catherine Egerton

72

b. NY

Hannah

38

b. NY

Harriet

42

b. NY

Gilbert Proper

12

b. NY

William Sharp

22

b. NY

dry goods merchant

Morris F. Burns

32

b. NY

clerk

The household was again
recorded in the 1855 New York State Census (dwelling #4; family #4; enum.
June 4, 1855).The family was still living
Starkey (election district #2), and their “frame” house was valued at
$800.00.The household was much
smaller at this time, consisting of only William, his mother-in-law, and two
sisters-in-law.William’s wife, Polly,
had died four years earlier.

Name

Age

Sex

Relationship

Countyof

Birth (NY)

Years in

residence

Occupation

--------------------------

---

---

----------------

---------------

--------------

----------------

Wm Chambers

57

M

Broom

28

farmer

Catherine Edgerton

77

F

mother-in-law

Unknown

30

Harriet Edgerton

47

F

boarder

Steuben

30

Hannah Edgerton

42

F

boarder

Steuben

30

On September 14, 1857, “Catherine
Edgerton of the town of Starkey, Yates County, State of New York” submitted
an affidavit
appointing her son, James M. Edgerton, as her attorney in seeking a
Revolutionary War pension claim based upon the service of her father, William
Murray.A copy of the affidavit was entered
in William Murray’s Revolutionary War Pension File (#M804).

The household of “C. Edgerton” was recorded in the
1860
Federal Censusof Starkey, Yates County,
New York (pg. 832; dwelling
#330; family #315; enum. August 6, 1860), as follows:

C. Edgerton

82

b. NJ

H. Edgerton

52

b. NY

$1000 personal estate

W. H. Chambers

64

b. NY

laborer

Mrs. Catherine (Murray)
Edgerton died on August 5, 1861, presumably at Rock Steam, New York.She was buried in the family plot at Rock
Stream Cemetery, adjacent to her husband, Andrew.According to the inscription on her gravestone,
Catherine was aged 83 years, 8 months and 9 days at the time of her death.

Our thanks are extended to Richard Wallace Edgertonof Billings,
Montana, who has provided much of the data
included here regarding the family and descendants of Andrew and Catherine (Murray) Edgerton.Mr. Edgerton is descended through Andrew
Edgerton’s eldest son, James Murray Edgerton.